Aug 2, 2008 -
Looking at Yaris with new eyes
I can't imagine an uglier little vehicle, besides the entire Scion lineup, than the 3-door Yaris. It looks like a car that left the factory without being finished yet. Its predecessor, the Echo, was a vehicle I wouldn't have taken even as a loaner car, with its too-big chassis and too-small tires. While contemplating a replacement for my aging 8th-gen Corolla, I had assumed that, unless I had need of a cargo-carrying vehicle, a Corolla would be the replacement vehicle.
But, generation X has now arrived in the Corolla line, and I'm less than impressed. Velour seating and power accessories come at a much higher price, even in the secondhand market I prefer. New Corollas are almost as much as Camrys! And Corollas have grown in size, to where they're as large as a 98 Camry.
I'm fixing up the old-timer this weekend, plugging up some leaks, treating it to new tires, belts and plugs, all to the tune of around $2K. While it's in the shop, the dealer is loaning me a 2008 Pacific Blue Yaris sedan with black interior, as basic as basic can be. What a surprise!
First, what a difference a back end makes. This is a handsome little sedan that's just about the same size of the old-timer. However, it seems twice as big on the inside because of the snub nose freeing up all the cabin space - you cannot even see the hood from the inside! Secondly, it drives great. Of course, it's not Buick quiet (no car is), but it handles railroad tracks very capably (and has a tire pressure sensor in case a nail gets in there).
I'm looking with new eyes at Yaris as a worthy successor to Corolla. Mind you, I'd prefer a car with velour seats, foam-padded steering wheel, POWER WINDOWS, and cruise, but unlike cars in the past, or as recently as ten years ago, even basic transportation doesn't mean I have to suffer. Yaris will take me to work or to the store in relative comfort. I can buy a steering wheel cover if I hate the feel of the plastic wheel, but on the other hand, it's a better quality plastic than, say, Chevrolet uses in their Cobalt, and that goes for the basic cloth seating, too. Chevrolet's seats feel like thin bedsheets, while the Toyota cloth is much better quality.
But Yaris is really going to need an overdrive gear to get the highway mileage up to the level it should be, which makes me believe Yaris to be strictly a city/suburban car. The only other choice would be to go to a manual - and who on earth wants to do that? Well, it's not as if I haven't driven one before, right?
If I were to buy a Yaris, I would like a blue one like my loaner, because it's a very attractive medium blue. It's not electric blue, it's not cobalt blue, but a nice "French" blue. It's the same color as my Alpine blue dinnerware that I got from Pier 1 Imports that I love. Then, I'd want NO CRANK WINDOWS. I'd want power windows and door locks. I love the central positioning of the gauges, but I'd really prefer an analog fuel gauge to the digital one. I'd then want an automatic overdrive transmission to help with that highway mileage. Granted, for the suburban driving I do, which seldom exceeds 50mph, it's fine as is, but again for road trips, the RPMs are going to be just too high without it. Finally, I need window tinting, air conditioning, a rear defroster, and something other than black on the interior color, especially in Oklahoma. In fact, I'd prefer a very pale gray or a beige interior to go with the Pacific Blue exterior.
From that basic layout, I'd have a very comfortable Yaris at a good price point - possibly the same price point from which I bought my old-timer ten years ago. I can't see paying what they want for a Corolla nowadays. It could be that Yaris would all I really need in a car. And if I hadn't taken my car in for service, and just judged Yaris by the hideous little 3-door model, I would have never found this out.
